Blog-4-the-Day: Wordstrumpet's

Do you love words, the way they sound, the way they look, their meanings? Do you ever fancy yourself as a writer, a person who can 'wordsmith' with the best of them; do you have a burning and a longing to write, but your not sure where or how to begin?

Well, if the above describes you, then I have good news for you as our 'Blog-4-the-Day' is Wordstrumpet's, by Charlotte Rain Dixon, a free-lance writer, novelist, copy writer and creative writing teacher from Portland, Oregon, who likes to make frequent trips, she says, to LA and Nashville."

Wordstrumpet's is a fantastic blog  that I became acquainted with through a website called, Blog Catalog - a great tool and resource for anyone interested in blogging and writing. I really love Charlotte's writing.  Its crisp, factual, helpful and down right entertaining and fun to read. Her writing style is humorous and unpretentious. She makes you, the reader, feel like your apart of her own family... a nice feeling indeed!

Besides, she really knows her stuff and her blog has been a great resource for me personally and I know it will also be to anyone out there who is in anyway interested in anything to do with the world of writing.  The internet is growing and, as she points out, its main building blocks are words, words that you can help supply.

Wordstrumpet can show you how you too can write and possibly earn money, at the same time, as a self published writer, something that she points out is quite different from publishing through a vanity press..... something she strongly advices against. A lot of people really don't know the difference, but with Charlotte's help you can not only know the difference, but you can learn how to avoid the many pitfalls that a lot of people fall into in their quest to write.

Just some of the recent and very informative posts featured on Wordstrumpet are:

Writing Tip: Second Best of the Week

Writing Tips: Absolute Best One Ever

Nanowrimo Prep

Rewriting Without Ruination

Make Money Writing Online, Three--The Benefits of Internet Freelancing, and too many others to mention here.

So, take it from me, if you ever wanted to start your own blog, write a book, ghost-write, or earn money by writing online, etc., than Wordstrumpet's can help you get your feet started on the right path to possibly an exciting, new and rewarding career, but you have to read it first, so, do yourself a favor and click on her blog's link below. You can thank me later.

And thats my 2 cents 4 this Wednesday, October 31, 2007.

http://wordstrumpet.com/

http://www.blogcatalog.com

Leopard Icons Up Close, Really, Really Close!

Leopard now sports 512 bit pixel icons and, as pointed out by MacFormat, you can easily zoom in on them and see all of the tiny details. (Click on the above photo for slightly a larger view)

Ever wonder what the text in the Text Icon says? Well, now you can easily zoom in and read the text and see for yourself!

Icons have really come a long, long way since the early days of the Macintosh. This change started, of course, with Mac OS X Cheetah, the first available release of OS X back in 2001. I remember how gorgeous they looked way back then, but now, how much more so.

When I think of Leopards new icons I can just imagine Billy Crystal saying, "Your looking marvelous, just marvelous!"

And thats my 2 cents on the new Leopard icon's 4 Tuesday, October 30, 2007.

Thanks to: http://www.macformat.co.uk/

.Mac is it Worth the Price?

Chris Pirillo may be a Windows guy, but lately he has been exploring the world of OS X and liking what he sees. Recently, on his 24-hour forum, someone asked him if the .mac feature was worth the $99 per-year price? He stated that the earlier version, that he had, was basically worthless, but, that the newer Leopard version was easily worth ten times what Apple is charging! The syncing capabilities are so far beyond anything that can be found either in the world of Windows or Linux that it simply can't be compared, according to Mr. Pirillo.

I agree whole heartedly. First of all, my favorite .mac Leopard feature is 'Back to your Mac.' Why? Quite simple: Because there is absolutely nothing that can be found like it, anywhere, on any OS or system, and what it allows you to accomplish is nothing short of amazing!

Imagine, for instance, having the ability to be able to access all of your files and programs on your home or other Macs while traveling anywhere in the world? As a writer, the idea that I can leave my work safely on my home system and yet still work on it with my MacBook Pro thousands of miles away simply blows my mind! If my laptop was ever stolen (lets hope not?) I would at least not have to worry about my work going down the drain with it, as it would still be safely stored on my home system! Try doing that with XP, Vista or any of the close to 400 different distros of Linux..... nope, I thought so.... you simple can't do it!

For a more detail look at Chris's views on .mac, and, as well, other Leopard matters, or for that matter, Vista and XP, etc., check out Chris's link at the end of this post.

And thats my 2 cents 4 Tuesday, October 30th.(already!,) 2007


http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/10/29/is-apples-mac-for-os-x-worth-it/

Video of Chris's opinion of .mac:


Chris | Live Tech Support | Video Help | Add to iTunes

Freebie-4-the-Day

The FixYourThinking blog had a post that inspired me to create a feature for my blog called, "Pic-4-the-Day." That feature, in turn, inspired me to create another called, "Blog-4-the-Day," and now I have created yet another to be called either, "Program-4-the-Day," or, "Freebie-4-the-Day," but whatever I call it, it will be where I will highlight a new and different little program that I have used and found personally useful. Hopefully, you will too?

So, after doing a piece on the excellent shareware program, "FolderBrander," that allows you to modify your existing folders with personal info, I am pleased to point out two nifty little utilities that I have really enjoyed for some time now. Both of these little jewels are from the fine folks at Pixture software.

The first is called, "FinderIconCM," a wonderful little utility that allows you to change a program or file's icon without the need to cut-and-paste from several different 'info-windows." This is so much faster, so much more convenient, and yes, so much more fun to do.

FinderIconCM will add a new contextual menu to your desktop when you press 'right click' with your mouse. Handy and convenient. You then need only to simply pick the icon that you want and paste it to your destination folder - nothing could be faster and simpler. I would hate, after all this time, to have to do without it. Of course, it works great in Tiger, but Leopard I don't have yet, so I really can't say?

The second utility is "IconReSizer," which, as it names suggests, allows you to use various sizes of your specified icons in the finder. If you prefer your icons small, for example, you could still specify one or more icons that you would like to stand out by simply giving them a new and different size in relation with the rest of your desktop icons. Neat and visually appealing.

For me FinderIconCM is the most important and useful of the two, however, you may find differently? Again, I'm not sure about any Leopard compatibility or incompatibility, but I somehow doubt that there would be any issues. But for heaven's sake please don't quote me on that!

Both of these FREE and handy little utilities also take up extremely little resources which is always a plus. So, if you like icons and the ability to manipulate them better to your liking, please check them out at the link below.

And thats my 2 cents on my new feature 4 this Monday, October 29, 2007

Pixture Software:
http://www.pixture.com/software/macosx.php

My inspirational post for my features:

http://jackwhispers.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html

FolderBrander:
http://my2cents4theday.blogspot.com/2007/10/easily-customize-your-os-x-folders.html

Pic-4-the-Day: Evening Road

Normally, I rarely post on the weekends but this is one of the exceptions. Today I am posting a great photo from a great photographer, Erick Karr. This is not, of course, my first 'Pic-4-the-Day,' but it is the first time I ever featured a photo, 'Evening Road,' from my home province of New Brunswick, Canada.

This photograph is absolutely stunning in every sense of the word! The composition is perfect, the color fabulous and the sheer simplicity of the subject renders it simply and stunningly beautiful! Wow, what can I say, except that this great photo illustrates beautifully why my little province is known by its slogan: "The Picture Province."

I love blue, its my favorite color, and this photo, as you can see, is bathed in it. The winding road, one I know very well, hugs the shores of the beautiful Saint John river, also known as the 'Rhine of America,' and travels the winding and gentle flowing river from the city of Saint John to the capitol of the province, Fredericton.

This photo, as beautiful as it is, is only one of many in Erick's Flickr collection that you can find listed in the link below. Naturally, I'm not the only one mesmerized by this photo as others, on Flickr, are saying such things as:

"Wow, fantastic... Looks like a painting !!! =D
kisses"

"OMG, this is just blowing me away! So flippin' gorgeous! So very well done! geez............."

"Superb! This is inspiring stuff, like the mood and the level of light on the road seems just right! Huge fave."

"That's incredible.
perfect lighting and colours, perspective and that yellow line just about completes the picture."

"That shot leaves me speechless. Absolutely incredible."

Of course, there are many, many more accolades on Flickr as you can read for yourself, but this gives you an idea of this photo's impact on its viewers. So, what are you waiting for? Go check out Rick's incredible Flickr collection and see why people are saying what they are saying for yourself.

Enjoy!

And thats my 2 cents on this rare weekend posting 4 this Saturday, October 27th., 2007

Erick's Blog: http://rickykarr.blogspot.com/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rickarr/295839488/

Do You Know How to Pronounce OS X?

How do you pronounce OS X? Some people say its, "OS Ten," some say its, "OS X" (as in EX). But what is it really, do you know? Well, thanks to Chris Priscillo's recent blog posting, there is a way that you can now know once and for all.

How, pray tell, can you really know once and for all?

Simple: Open up the terminal and use the 'say' command. Chris, who is into video in a big way these days, demonstrated how to in a video that I really enjoyed. Personally, I never even knew there was such a thing as a 'say' command in OS X until I read Chris's blog. Anyway, I, being the curious type, of course, followed the instructions and sure enough I got the answer to the buggy little question of how do you pronounce OS X!

So, there you go, if your a little bored or curious just open up terminal and just type in the word "say", then hit space, then write what ever you wish in quotes. In this case, of course, first type the letter "x". Then use the 'say' command again but type in quotes, "OS X." The computer itself will then pronounce the correct pronunciation.

There you have it, strait from the horse's (computers) mouth, the one and only correct way to pronounce the name of Apple's award winning OS.

What is the correct pronunciation you ask? Hey, I know, but I'm not going to say - you'll have to use the 'say' command in the terminal to find the answer, or, of course, you can just click on Chris's link below and let him tell you what it is.

One thing, I will say, is that even though I have knowingly been using the INCORRECT pronunciation all along, I will continue to use it, as personally, I think that it just sounds a lot cooler than the proper pronunciation.

And thats my 2 cents 4 this day, Friday, October 26, on the proper pronunciation of OS X.

Chris Pirillo: http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/10/25/how-to-say-os-x/


Chris | Live Tech Support | Video Help | Add to iTunes

Pic-4-the-Day: Seagulls at the beach

Today, its time for another one of my Pics-4-the-Day. In other words, I was up late last night drinking and have less time, sadly, than normal to post anything else! Shame on me, I know better than to drink 3 glass's of Seven-Up in a row like that! Shame, shame...... shame on me.

Anyway, back to the Pic-4-Day, which comes to us from Christian Fessel. Todays pic, a beautiful one indeed, is of seagulls at the beach. Oh, how I love these birds, if for no other reason that they, like myself, are so 'bird-brain' dumb. I just love how they walk around seemingly clueless as to what they want or what they are doing. I loved also, growing up in a major Canadian seaport, trying to catch these silly critters at the beach. I remember it well. I tried many times to catch one, but I never did succeed in catching a single one, which, obviously, proves who the dumber one here was!

This is a great photo because of the sea, the birds, the dark colors and how they play off of each other. Just what are these birds thinking? I wonder - do they even think? I don't know about the birds, but I do know that I love this photo from this great professional German photographer.

So, if your into great photography, then, by all means, check out Christian's other amazing photos from his Flickr address, on the link below.

And thats my 2 cents 4 this 'out-of-time' Thursday, October 25, 2007.


http://flickr.com/photos/christianfesselmedia/

New iPhone Rumor: Is it coming, or is it not?

Canadian brewer Molson may have spilled the beans regarding the availability of the iPhone here in Canada. As you can see in the above photo, Molson has a new contest that just happens to be giving away one of the greatly sought after iPhones as one of its prizes.

The ad gives the arbitrary value of the Canadian version at a whopping $800 CDN, so, if that is the case (but, I sincerely doubt it) than the iPhone will be limited either to the rich or the foolish. I can think of a lot of things I rather do with $800 than splurge it on a phone, yes, even the incredible sexy iPhone.

The contest in French, translates to "Twist & Shout" and tells the readers of the advert that the iPhone will be exclusively distributed by Rogers Communications. However, neither Rogers or Apple have made any indication of the validity of the ads claims.

The contests runs till January 4th., but according to the advert, the iPhone won't be available until the 8th. of the same month.

If the iPhone is, indeed, really coming to Canada it would be great; if the iPhone is really $800 -  its not! I hope that the iPhone does soon, in fact, come to the land of the great white north, but, of course, only if it compares in price to the recently reduced American version. After all, the Canadian and American dollar are basically at par these days.

Now, if only someone would hint at the availability of the iPhone in Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere?

Well, I guess, until either Rogers or Apple themselves cough up more information, I will consider this to be just another iPhone rumor, but one that I hope is at least partially correct.

And thats my 2 cents on the Canadian iPhone rumor of the day, 4 this Wednesday, October 24th., 2007.

http://www.electronista.com/articles/07/10/24/canadian.iphone.contest/

Who's Bigger than IBM? Apple, That's Who!

Its incredible when you think that when Steve Jobs returned to Apple, almost ten years ago, that Apple had a market cap of approximately $2.1 billion. Yesterday, after the bell, Apple Inc. posted gains that helped it roar past industry legend and giant IBM! As of today, Tuesday morning, Apple's market cap hit the incredible sum of over $163-billion as compared to IBM's $156.45-billion!

Wow! Its incredible again, but Apple's stock has more than doubled since the first of the year! IBM's stock, as of this morning, is now trading at $113.37. Apple's stock now trades for the amazing price of $187 per share in pre-market trading!

It was also ten years ago that Michael Dell, CEO and founder of Dell Inc., utter his infamous statement that, "What would I do? I'd shut it down (Apple) and give the money back to the shareholders." I wonder what Mr. Dell's is thinking about his famous last words now? It is now Dell that is being labeled as the beleaguered company, while Apple is, more than often, simply referred as the consumers electronic giant!

What a difference ten short years can make.

This quarter Apple's grew by an astounding 67% and posted a profit of over $900 million. With the upcoming holidays sales ahead of us, Peter Oppenheimer, the company's CFO, has predicted that it may yet post over eight-billion dollars in the next quarter as the recent iPhone price cuts have paid off in a big way and booming Macintosh sales, which grew by almost 40% in the same period, and continued brisk sales of the iPod continues unabated, Apple, these days, seems to be able to do no wrong.

Its hard to argue with numbers like the ones that Apple Inc. just delivered this quarter. Apple has consistently blown past Wall Street's analysts projections ever since the return of Steve Jobs. In fact, since his return Apple has made a profit every single quarter in the past ten years except two, one or both of which were due to major charges such as takeovers. Apple has been firing on on cylinders and has become a virtual cash machine that most other companies can only envy.

Way to go Apple; lets hope that your next quarter, the company's traditional best, is every bit as exciting and rosy as the past one?

And that's my 2 cents on Apple's amazing quarter 4 this Tuesday, the 23rd. of October, 2007.

The OS Wars Rages On !

Will the debate in the war of the OS's ever be answered? Well, I'm not sure? However, if you interested, you can click on the link below and add your 2 Cents to the question. As for me, I use Windows XP, Ubuntu and OS X. Even though I have played with Vista and I think its better looking than its predecessor, I have read too many negatives regarding it to purchase it for the time being.

I will say, however, that after extensive use with XP, Ubuntu and OS X, the current version of OS X Tiger is by far the better of the three. Not only is it better looking, but it is the easiest, most stable and to be frank, the most fun and pleasurable to use. I can't wait to get my hands on OS X Leopard after it is released this coming Friday. Of course, there are always a few glitches with a major OS upgrade, so I expect a few of them with Leopard. However, past upgrades of OS X have never had the kind of plaguing issues that Vista, to this day, some ten months after its release, still has. Hopefully, this will be the case with Leopard, and it will have only a few minor issues?

I, like other interested OS X watchers, will be looking carefully over the next month at Leopard and any upgrade issue's it may have, but in the meantime, Engadget's poll in the OS Wars has some revealing points in the current stats:


OS X Leopard .... 46.5 %

OS X Tiger ......... 2.6 %

Vista ................. 13.0 %

XP ..................... 19.4 %

Ubuntu ............. 9.6 %

Other Linux's .... 2.1 %

DOS .................. 2.5 %

Punch Cards...... 4.4 %

What is really remarkable from the current polling results, from a whopping 63,813 readers, is as follows:

One: its remarkable that Leopard has become number one before it was even released, and interestingly, it shows that users of Tiger are eager to upgrade as soon as possible. Leopard, by the way, is already number one on Amazon's top selling list (pre-orders).

Two: XP is still clearly preferred over the newer Vista OS. Will it eventually change? Most likely, but for now, XP's preference by Windows users isn't so much, I think, a vote for XP as much as it is a vote against the current version of Vista.

Three: Its remarkable that, in a few short years, Ubuntu has surpassed all of the other 387 versions of Linux (and for good reason) in popularity and is the most likely candidate to ever go mainstream, if, that is, Linux ever goes that route on the desktop?

So, there you have it, a very intriguing and informative poll from the fine folks over at Engadget, so, as I stated earlier: Go and give your 2 cents and vote for your favorite OS.

And thats my 2 cents on the OS Wars 4 Monday, October 22, 2007.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/16/poll-os-war-2007/

What's Bad About Getting a Free iPhone ?

What's not so nice about receiving a Free iPhone? Simple: Attempting to steal $100 from the iPhone giver! Unfortunately, some 800 Apple employees found that out the hard way - that its not a good idea to try and bite the hand of the one feeding you, or in this case employing you. Sadly this is what happened to some 800 Apple employees recently.

These 800 Apple employee's are now former employees, as they were all fired for trying to steal or scam their employer, Apple Inc. Apparently, it wasn't enough for these greedy employees to simply receive a free iPhone, but no, they also wanted the same $100 credit that Apple offered people who PAID the original price for the iPhone. Apparently it didn't cross their minds that when you receive something for nothing - you get nothing back in change or rebates.

Sadly, these 800 employee's readily demonstrated to Apple that they were willing to steal whenever they had the chance, so, naturally, Apple felt that they were probably better off in the future without them. Touche.

Its always a shame to lose a job, especially a job from from a company that is recognized as one of the best to work for, but they, frankly, deserved it. They have no one to blame but their own greed. It is common sense that getting something back from something you never gave or paid for was nothing less than stealing. It would be as if they expected Apple to pay them $100 for giving them an iPhone! Silly, silly...... DUMB!

I only hope that these former employees have learned a very valuable lesson that they will apply, in the future, for the next job that they get?

And thats my 2 cents 4 Friday, October 19, 2007. See you all, God willing Monday, if not sooner.

SOURCE: http://www.slashgear.com/apple-cans-800-employees-for-cashing-in-on-iphone-rebates-198057.php

Pick-4-the-Day: Adorable Iraqi baby !

Well, I'm short on time again, so that can only mean one thing: its time for another, "Pick-4-the-Day." Todays picture comes R.Brown's wonderful Flickr photo collection. And what a picture it is. Today's photo is one of a most beautiful and adorable little Iraqi girl.

The picture is mostly empty space with that fragile and precious baby off to the right, her fragility so apparent. What will become of this beautiful child, a child as precious as any, but one who sadly is forced to live in a country marked by extreme dangers all around her? I don't know, but I pray that this and every Iraqi child will soon experience a much better life than the present. It is so sad to think that this beautiful child must be surrounded by the ugliest of war.

God bless this child and every other Iraqi child, and, of course, really, every child, no matter where they be on this planet.

And thats my 2 cents 4 this Thursday, October 18, 2007.


Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8357658@N02/

Another Blow to Vista's Reputation

Vista Reputation was further tarnished as it received yet another blow, this time from the Dutch Consumer Association (Consumentenbodn).

 It has recommended that consumers who recently purchased new PC's insist on obtaining Windows XP over Microsoft's latest and greatest, Vista OS. 

After less than five weeks it has received well over 5,000 complaints regarding Vista over hardware and software compatibility issue's and just plain sluggishness of its performance.

For more information. you can check out Ars Technica's article on the subject with the link provided below.

In the meantime, OS X Leopard, it has been revealed, will officially be available for sale to the general public come this October 26. Microsoft, on the other hand, hopes that the upcoming Vista's SP1 can silence the growing criticism over Vista, and herald what some are calling the real launch of Vista. We will see?

And thats another 2 cents  of mine 4 this Wednesday, October 4, 2007

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071014-consumer-protection-org-warns-resist-vista-back-to-the-future-with-xp.html

Thanks to the Vista Sucks blog for bringing this to my attention.

http://vistasucks.wordpress.com

Easily Customize Your OS X Folders

If you love to customize the look and feel of your OS X desktop, the way I do, then I have a treat for you. Its called, "FolderBrander," by Yellow Mug Software. This wonderful little utiliy will easily allow you to modify and personalize your folders they way you want.

Here is a list of features of this little gem:

. Easily allows you to add text to a folder

. Allows you to skew and rotate the text

. Gives you the option to give text a very nice shadow effect

. Extensible with your own base icons, just drag and drop!

FolderBrander will set you back about $10 bucks (Cdn) but is worth every last penny. I love it and only wish I had it sooner.

You can download a trial version from the provided link below.

Enjoy.

And thats my 2 cents on this cold but sunny Wednesday, October 17, 2007

http://yellowmug.com/folderbrander/

Blog-4-the-Day: "Vista Sucks"

Today I will feature the 2nd. post in my "Blog-4-The-Day", a new series were I list new and interesting blogs that I have recently discovered. My choice for today is the "Vista Sucks" blog.

Jay, the author of Vista Sucks, hails from Vancouver, B.C., were he has dutifully used Microsoft OS's for the past 15 years before his hatred of Microsoft really took root because, as he says in his blog, "Jay’s recent hatred of Microsoft stems from being locked out of his expensive high-end, custom built, PC by Vista. (His legal copy of Vista Ultimate 64bit Edition was illegitimized when he moved around some SATA cables), and the loss of his beloved XBox 360 to the infamous “3 Blinking Red Lights of Doom”

Vista Sucks, as you can deduce, is a Macintosh site from a former Windows guy that highlights the benefits of using a Mac over Vista. Recent Vista Sucks posts, that you are sure to enjoy, include:

"Microsoft’s Latest Invention: The iPhone"

"Looking for a good movie to rent?"

"PCAnswers.Co.Uk: Why my new laptop is a Macbook," and "Mother’s ire puts Ballmer on defense over Vista.'

Vista Sucks is an interesting Canadian blog that will be enjoyed by any one who is interested in the Macintosh platform, or by anyone who is considering upgrading to Vista, or is frustrated by Microsoft's latest and greatest OS.

All-in-all, a great site and highly recommended, so visit it today at the link below.

And thats my 2 cents, on this new and great blog, 4 Tuesday, October 16, 2007

http://vistasucks.wordpress.com/

Korea's 4G Network - The World's Fastest !

My 8 Mbyte cable network used to seem so fast, but not anymore. Not at least after reading what the South Koreans have developed. Yes, those amazing Koreans now have a slightly faster network than I. How fast do you ask? Well, now hold onto your breathe here..... would you believe...... like 3.6 Gbytes per-second faster!

Now that is fast, like I mean, really, really, super-duper fast. Think of it, being able to download an entire movie in a mere 2 seconds or, in 10.5 seconds, the entire contents of the Encyclopedia Britannica! Now that would be great, unless, of course, your a movie studio or the Britannica people worried about pirated movies and encyclopedias.

This newly developed 4G communication technology was demonstrated recently by the Korean Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute. The head of ETRI's Mobile Research Division, Hwang Seung-koo, stated that the new 4G mobile technology will bring benefits worth billions of dollars in the future. And, trust me, you can bet your last 2 cents on that one! You can count on it.

What I want to know, and no doubt you too, my three dear readers of this blog, is when will all this fantastic new 4G technology be available else where in the world... like in my neck-of-the-woods? I don't know, but the sooner the better, if you ask me, because I'm still jealous over those folks who currently get the world's fastest 100-mbps network speeds! I want to leave those lucky (censored) folks choking in my internet dust and thats that!

And thats my 2 cents on this amazing Korean 4G technology, 4 this Monday, October 15, 2007

http://www.fareastgizmos.com/mobile_phones/download_a_movie_in_just_two_seconds.php

Total Music vs iTunes Store

The "iPhone, THEREFORE I BLOG" site has a great suggestion on the war launched recently by Universal Music against the iTunes store, the world's biggest and best download site for music and videos. The article suggests, and I quote:

"Here's my idea. I've said it a long time ago and I'll say it again.
Apple should step in and offer to be the record producers for all these huge, huge acts. They've already proven they can manage music and I think it would be so much better to the acts than the record companies are.

The way it stands now, the artists make so little. The record companies make a ridiculous profit and then they have the nerve to say they don't make enough?

Really?

What a bunch of crap.

Thanks for calling"

Yep, really, this is a great idea! I thought of it myself but I wonder just what kind of resources Apple would have to spend to get it up and running as fast as possible? What a wonderful way to 'stick it' to the big, fat, greedy record companies. It would serve them right for their 'anti-business' practices.

If you ask me, it is clear and unadulterated bigotry on the part of Universal Music against Apple. Their proposed 'Total Music' store is 'total' crap! I'll be damned if they think they can dictate to me that I can only rent music rather than own it as I can with iTunes.

Further more, getting the mp3 manufacturers to add an invisible tax on their inferior players to give the illusion that the music is free is even more total crap! Apparently, Universal thinks that we consumers are 'total' morons!

If I know Apple and Steve Jobs, I would be willing to bet that they have already thought of this scenario long ago, and who knows.... maybe they are in the process of implementing such a plan as we speak? Lets hope so? It would not only serve both the artists and their fans better than the present status quo, but I really would love to see Universal and the other music companies get a taste of good-old Apple vengeance. They really deserve it this time.

And thats my 2 cents of mine, for this rare weekend post, 4 this 14th. of October, 2007.

http://weblogs.redeyechicago.com/iphoneblog/2007/10/apple-inc-shoul.html

Pic-4-the-Day: Siamese-Bug ?

Normally I don't post on the weekends, but I did have time to post this one hilarious pic of what seems like a Siamese-Bug, or Volkswagen. The pic comes from the 'Formula-Andy blog.'

WARNING: Most of the other pics from this blog could be deemed pornographic or indecent! There are a few other worthy car pics, but most of the pics I don't recommend. I just came across this blog by accident and I just happened to like a few of the car pics, the above pic included.

If you wish, and your not offended, you can visit the link below.

And thats my 2 cents 4 this rare Saturday posting, October 13, 2007.

http://formula-andy.blogspot.com/

Apple Sweeps T3 Gadget of the Year Awards!

T3 has announced their Gadget of the Year Awards and even though Sony took the Gadget of the Year Award for the PS3, Apple, with six wins, took more awards than any other company. Apple won for the following categories:



MOST ANTICIPATED GADGET OF 2007: APPLE iPHONE

"The most sinuous, tactile and intelligent communications, entertainment and hype-inducement device of all time is ready to storm Britain's beaches. The haters will say, "It's just a phone," but that's like saying the Great Wall of China is "only a fence." Just watch them change their minds as they pull out a favourite track or zoom in to a treasured snap with but a flick of their mis-shapen digit."

THE DROP DEAD GORGEOUS AWARD: MACBOOK PRO.

"Power. Sheer, unbridalled power. A huge, hi-res screen. And a very nice silver-grey case. We'll take two, please."

TOP COMMUTER GADGET: THE iPOD

"Can you remember when the only entertainment on the tube was a swarthy man with an accordion? That's why we thank the heavens every day for Apple's music maven."

BEST DOWNLOAD SERVICE: iTUNES STORE

"Millions of tunes you can have on your iPod within moments of hitting "Buy" and a million personalised recommendations to try. Instant life enhancement through technology."

BEST MUSIC GADGET: iPOD

"The slimline Classic 160GB, pictured, has a few issues but is still an excellent product. The 80GB iPod, however, was near perfect, thanks to huge capacity, tantric-length battery life and an interface of sublime simplicity."

BEST GADGET OF ALL TIME: iPOD

"It's impossible to overestimate the iPod's impact: since its birth six years ago, it's changed the musical landscape. Single-album CDs are dead, record shops are dead; playlists, random-play and downloads rule. Meanwhile, Apple innovates relentlessly to protect its huge market lead, with the latest return of the Thin White Juke adding touch-sensitivity and music-shopping on the move."

Well, there you have it, the readers have spoken and its no surprise that coming off of a very fruitful year of innovation and product development, that Apple has done so well. It will be interesting to see how well Apple does next year as it known that they have a very strong product development pipeline in the works.

Steve Jobs himself has stated, several months back, that Apple will unleash "KILLER iMACS" this January. So, after seeing what they have already unleashed a few months back, I can't wait. Will it be the rumored "Killer Gaming iMac?" I sure hope so, as this is one area that needs to be address, as soon as possible, if Apple wishes to continue to take significant market share away from the Windows camp as it has been doing.

As great as Apple has been doing, with their incredible products and services, it can always do more. Personally, I think that it will continue to astound its critics and for good reason. As Steve Jobs often likes to say, "Apple is firing on all cylinders."

Apple's past and presence in the market place has been great, but I personally anticipate even greater achievements in the future.

And thats my 2 cents 4 this Friday, October 7, 2007.

http://competition.futurenet.com/t3awards/

Blog-4-the-Day: Its ALL Mac !

Today, Thursday the 11th. and tomorrow, Friday, the 12th., I will be very busy and probably not able to write much of anything, so, I decided to add a new feature to my blog for days such as these. I call it - "Blog-4-the-Day." This will be a feature like my recently introduced, Pic-4-the-Day, but will, naturally, of course, feature a NEW and different blog that I have recently discovered.

Since, my blog is mostly Macintosh and tech related, I have therefore chosen for my very first 'Blog-4-the-Day', Bryce Adams, "Its ALLMac.com." Bryce describes his blog as, "ItsALLmac.com - it’s the home of the best Mac Guides, Q&As, Reviews, and other Cool Stuff to do with your Mac, and it’s free." I describe it as fun and informative.

Some of the recent postings, that all Mac lovers might enjoy, are: No More Spam; QuickSnip: Seashore; INSOMNIA On This Weekend and a posting, that one of my 2 all-time favorite blogs, FIXYOURTHINKING, also recently covered, on the new Apple iPhone ads, called, 3 New iPhone Ads For You To Spend Hours Watching. Bryce also features a review of, CoconutBattery 2.5.1.

So, to all three of my faithful and dear readers, here's hoping that you will enjoy discovering, as I have, this great new Mac blog, Its ALL Mac.com, were as Bryce would say, "Its were Macs come alive!" I sure came alive reading it, and, no doubt you will too!

And thats my 2 cents on this excellent new blog 4 this Thursday, October 11th., 2007

http://www.itsallmac.com/

http://jackwhispers.blogspot.com/

Vista Sucks!

Mikesplanet.net has a great video posting, "Vista Sucks!" It's hilarious and if you love the National Lampoon then your going to get a great kick out of this. I know I did, so click the link below and enjoy:

And thats another 2 cents 4 Wednesday, October 10, 2007.

http://www.mikesplanet.net/2007/10/the-vista-commerical-you-will-want-to-see/

Two Recent iPhone Rumors

There were two interesting rumors regarding Apple and the iPhone yesterday, both of which I hope turn out to be facts real soon.

The first rumor comes from Macsoop who are reporting, "Apple and Orange could finally make their partnership on the distribution of the iPhone in France publicly official this week, report citing France Telecom's CEO indicates.

For the second time since rumors on a deal between the two companies started spreading on the Internet, Didier Lombard, confirmed to the French newspaper, Le Républicain Lorrain, that France Telecom's subsidiary has won the deal and that the device should be available by late November."

Is it true? I don't know, but I do know that the sooner they ink the deal the better it will be for both Orange and Apple. The French are particularly fond of the Macintosh style of computing - they are the European's biggest fans of the platform, so I'm sure that the iPhone will do extremely well there. Let's hope so anyway?

Even more interesting, and, like a lot of people, I really, really hope this rumor is more than just that, that Apple will indeed soon allow third party applications to be developed for the iPhone instead of just 'web applications' as it now.

According to Macworld, "Apple continues working to develop a way in which third-party developers can produce true applications for the iPhone, but is implementing control of the process.

A report last week claimed* Apple to be working to implement better support for web-based applications to make it easier for developers outside the future magic developer circle to build for the company's popular device."

Wow, now this really would be great and it sure would shut the mouths of a lot of critics out there who have been hounding Apple to do just that, open the iPhone up for real applications.

Some of the recent web iPhone applications, of late, have been truly great, so just think what would happen if Apple really does opened the iPhone the way developers have been hoping and dreaming of?

I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one and hoping like hell it comes to fruition, sooner than later.

And thats my 2 cents on these, hopefully soon to be true, rumors 4 this Wednesday, October 11, 2007.

Sources:

http://www.macscoop.com/articles/2007/10/09/official-apple-orange-announcement-due-week

http://www.macworld.co.uk/ipod-itunes/news/index.cfm?newsid=19324

* http://www.macworld.co.uk/ipod-itunes/news/index.cfm?newsid=19290&pagtype=allchandate

Photo is from: http://www.everythingiphone.com/iphone-photo-gallery/

The Sexiest Blog ????

Wow, not long ago I posted a piece on the 'Sexiest Blogger,' Justine Ezarik, or as she prefers to be called, iJustine. Now that girl looks absolutely fabulous, just fabulous, but now, I have just come across what I consider to be the sexiest blog yet: 'The Bikini Zone.' This is one sexy blog, I guarantee you, that I will be visiting on a regular basis. Hopefully, it will be updated on a regular basis. Hmmmm.... I can't wait for tomorrow!

I'm not sure exactly who these 'sexy bikini' models are, but I do know, as you can plainly see for yourself from the above photo, is that this is a very pretty blog. Mind you, there isn't much written content on this blog....... but who cares? I like it as it is!

Now, I really can's speak for you, but as for me ............. I LOVE THIS BLOG!

And thats my 2 cents on this 'Sexy, sexy blog' 4 Tuesday, October 10, 2007.

http://thebikinizone.blogspot.com/ and http://my2cents4theday.blogspot.com/2007/09/sexiest-blogger.html

Pic-4-The-Day: The Lonely Tree !

Ah, another day away from my computer means another Pic-4-The Day! Todays picture hails from Germany, one of my favorite and one the most beautiful countries in the world. This picture of the lonely tree is absolutely magnificent! It may be simple and may contain only a few elements, but those elements come together to produce a picture that completely mesmerizes me. I love how the dark threatening clouds give way to the big blue sky, its rays shinning around that little and lonely, but oh so beautiful tree!

This picture comes to us from Aremac's excellent Flickr page and is just one of many beautiful photos that you can find from this 'addicted to colors' German photographer, so, by all means, treat yourself by checking out his most colorful portfolio at his link listed below.

Hopefully, tomorrow I shall be back, God willing, to post something on one of my favorite subjects, the world of Macintosh computers, but until then visit Aremac's colorful portfolio and enjoy.

And thats my 2 cents 4 this Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Aremac's Flickr page:
http://flickr.com/people/96614226@N00/

Can You Pass This Brain Test?

Since I will be out most of the day and, most likely unabled to write much about anything, I will post this little test that was developed by the folks at Cambridge University. The test is quite simple and it easily illustrates the amazing cognitive powers of the human brain. The test revolves around the fact that our brains don't process or read each and every letter of a word, but only the first and last letter.

So here's the test, a test that they tell us that only 55 out of every 100 people can pass. The object of the test is to simply read the following 'scrambled' up paragraph and see if you can comprehend its message.

Read the following and see if you can both comprehend and pass the test:

"fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! "

There, that wasn't so bad, now was it? How did you do; did you pass? I did and I'm a complete dummy! All-in-all, a fun and revealing test of the amazing cognitive power of our amazing brains!

And thats my 2 cents 4 this Monday, October 8, 2007.

Brain illustration is from Wikipedia, The Free Encylopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain

One Hell of a Collection !

To say that James Savage loves Macintosh computers would be an understatement. And to prove it, the man has a spare room complete with a few 'spare' Macs in it..... over 150 of them! Wow, and I thought with an old Color Classic and an old PowerMac 5260/120 in the house I was being silly..... well, silly little old me.

Apparently, as amazing as his Mac collection is, equally amazing must be his wife, as not too many wives would allow their husbands to get away with having over 150 computers in the house. James amazing collection runs the gamut from Mac Classics, an old Lisa, a 1997 Anniversary Mac (Now thats a nice one!) to the old original Macintosh laptop, you know the one that weighed almost as much as a baby elephant!

As you can see from the above photo, James really has 'one-hell-of-a collection.' Not only does he have almost every single model of Mac ever made, he also has quite the collection of Apple merchandise as well, including such things as cups, pens, hats, posters and even neon Apple signs.

Even more impressive is the fact that all of his 150 plus Macintosh's are all in excellent working condition! But then again, they are Macs which tend to out live the average PC out there. How many 15 year old or older computers are out there that are still running, like the day they were new, I don't know, but it can't be too many, I'm sure?

All I can say, in conclusion, is that James has got 'one-hell-of-a-great collection.' I hope someday, if I'm in his neighborhood, he'll let me have a peek. I'd even pay for the privileged. I, of course, don't ever hope to amass such a collection myself, but just knowing that someone has makes me feel a little less guilty about the two old Macs gathering dust in my closet.

For even more photos of James impressive collection check out the great, one-year old, Applegazette web site listed below.

And thats my 2 cents on this 'one-hell-of-a-terrific Mac collection,' 4 this Sunday, October 7th, 2007.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/apple-apple-apple/mans-spare-room-filled-with-almost-every-apple-model-ever-made-306566.php

Gold Plated MacBook Pro

Well, if your not quite satisfied with just an ordinary looking MacBook Pro and you want your MacBook to look a little different, plus you have an extra $7,000 to $8,000 to spare, just jingling in your pockets, then Gizmodo has a posting on a new custom 24-carat gold Macbook Pro modification service, by Computer Choppers, that you just might be interested i?

It is very nice looking MacBook Pro, which you would expect for that kind of money, but I'm not sure if the modification price includes a Brink truck to move that shinny new baby of yours around in?

None-the-less, if you your interested in buying one, then its safe to say, that you have a hell-of-a-lot more money to burn than I! So, if your still interested, then by all means, check out Gizmodo's post below.

And thats my 2 cents 4 today, October 6, 2007.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/quicky-interview/golden-macbook-pro-finally-a-mac-to-match-our-teeth-307880.php

Microsoft Employee Buys a Mac!

There are people out there living in denial. They will deny just about anything that they don't like, and a lot of people out there don't like Apple or anything about it, especially the computer division. Well, they can deny Apple's award-winning computers and software all they want, but the fact remains that some 9,000 per day, seven days per week are switching to the Mac whether they admit it or not. They can also deny the reasons too, but the reasons are still true, its a stable, slick, well oiled machine and the simple fact is... the Mac just works!

Now, the really interesting thing is that its not just the so called 'regular' computer users that are switching from Windows to the Mac but, amazingly, an ever increasing number of switchers just happen to be harden senior Window experts like Scott Finnie and others. And, now, even Chris Pirillo is considering switching. So, in light of the increasing market share and popularity of the Mac offerings, it was very interesting to read of the experiences of an actual Microsoft employee, Scott Barnes, who recently purchased his first iMac.

As Scott says in his blog, mossyblogg (nice and catchy name, by the way):

"Today I did something bold, irresponsible and costly - I, a Microsoft Employee bought an iMac. The reason I did this was mostly due to two things:

1. All my creative friends kept saying "Man I can't live without my mac, don't know how you survive dude, especially working for Microsoft" (it's their way of putting a dig at me).

2. We bought 2 laptops for the team, and Shanemo & Michael are hard to pry the MacBook Pro's from, so it was either get one of them fired or buy it.

So here I am, owning an iMac while drawing a pay check at Microsoft. I can't but help the feeling I am hurting my stock options somehow, but the rationale in my head is that "We don't make PC Hardware, we make Operating systems - and other things".

Well, there you have it. Even a Microsoft employee can see the light, and come to enjoy the benefits of his company's main competitor, so, it's not too hard to imagine why so many of us 'regular' folks are also switching to the world of Apple and the Mac.

But how did he like it; what where his feelings and experiences? Well, in his own words, he reports:

"We've all mostly seen the ads. The smug Apple guy makes a point of just unpacking the box, plugging it and walking off to do other things, meanwhile the PC guy has to do allot of work. 

I agree, the Apple experience did shine here, I not only was surprised to see just a monitor (somehow I had it in my head that I'll have some kind of small little desktop console of some kind) but it was a case of slotting in the power cable, hooking the mouse and keyboard up (heh, I thought I had to plug the mouse into the back of the monitor when I released there was a USB input on the keyboard.. such a dumbo).

That was it really for the hardware. I found the overall install experience for OSX Tiger to be pretty damn  smooth and effortless.

I did laugh though to see once the Wizards were all done and dusted, "Software Updates" that required patching. Ahhh sweet justice, yes Windows Vista does it but so does OSX! so neh!."

Its nice to see that even a Microsoft employee can enjoy the same installation experience that I and millions of others have already discovered: Scott's experience's are typical of the average Window switcher, but with a difference... he's employed by Microsoft, and Apple just happens to be its biggest competitor!

All-in-all, its a very interesting piece, coming from the perspective of an Microsoft employee. So, for more on Scott's brave entry into the world of the Mac, click on his blog's link below and enjoy the rest for yourself.

And thats my 2 cents 4 this sunny Friday, October 5, 2007.

http://blogs.msdn.com/msmossyblog/archive/2007/10/05/imac-ownership-day-0-where-is-my-applications.aspx

http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/

http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/09/28/vista-rants/

Pick-4-The-Day: Beautiful Freiburg

Today, I have even less time than the usual 5 to 6 minutes, from start to finish, that I get to write a piece, so I am posting my second Pick-4-the-Day. Today's pick is from Markus-Berger's Flickr's photo stream and features the very beautiful city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.

Freiburg is my second favorite city in the whole world, after my hometown. Its a great city and I urge all, who can, to visit it whenever they can. Markus's photo steam features many, many great pics and, likewise, I also urge you to visit his link below and check out his work.

I hope to write something tomorrow, God willing, until then, enjoy Markus's most excellent photography. Its first class, just as is this most excellent city, die wunderbar statt von Freiburg.

And thats my 2 cents 4 this, I got absolutely No-Time to write, Thursday, October 4, 2007

Source: http://flickr.com/photos/markusberger/

New Zunes Same Old Story !

Wow! The new Zunes are here! Stop everything, forget the kids, forget everything else you were planning to do today and go go grab yourself one.... before their all gone! Actually, you can just forget all about the Zune, because frankly they are forgettable!

The new Zunnies have now added support for h.264 and MPEG-4 video's and they also have dropped the brown color, which is basically the only improvements that I see. They also added new touch controls and flash based models, but the New Zune, that comes sometime in November, seems to more like the old Zune....... BORING!

For me, the most impressive thing about the new Zune is that it fails to impress! I was expecting a little bit more, but got a lot less, a whole lot less! But then again, this is Microsoft the company that oozes lack of innovation and who's name should be changed to something more appropriate like, MICRO-BORE!

I was going to say, 'Nice try, but no cigar,' but honestly..... its not even a nice try, more like..... B O R I N G! For now Apple has nothing to fear, but at the rate Microsoft is going with the Zune, Apple will have lots to fear soon, like in 2030 or sometime around there!

And thats my 2 cents on the new & slightly improved, but sill boring, new Zunnies, 4 this Wednesday, October 3, 2007.


http://www.zune.net/en-us/meetzune/holiday2007.htm

Pick 4 the Week: 'Resting Souls'

One of my all-time favorite blogs, Fixyourthinking, will sometimes just post an interesting picture or photograph and it inspired me to introduce a new feature that I hope all two or three readers of my blog will enjoy. I call it: 'Pict 4 the Week.'

Pick 4 the Week, will, I hope, feature a picture that is as strikingly beautiful and thought provoking as the picture above, 'Resting Souls,' from Pete Vass-Photographical Life Art's photos. Of course, I can only post one pic, so you will have to visit his Flickr page (see link below) to view more of his excellent work.

The above photo is extremely beautiful! I just love how those rays pierce not only the fog, but my very soul. It is, at the same time, both hauntingly beautiful and, as well, equally thought provoking. I can't help but wonder who those resting souls where? What where they like and the lives they that they lived?

The photo itself was shot in my home town of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, a small but beautiful city of about 122,000 people, and when I'm there, 122,001.

So, if your moved the way I am about Mr. Pete Vass's beautiful photography, then, by all means, take the time to visit his excellent collection at his Flickr page for even more of the same.

And thats my 2 cents on my new 'Pic 4 the Week feature, 4 this Tuesday, October 2, 2007.

http://flickr.com/photos/95327661@N00/2109571/

Now Thats FUNNY!

From the minute that we are born, it seems, to the minute that we die, we are bombarded, these days, with advertising. From toothpaste to electronics, cars, medicine and every conceivable thing in between.

At this point, we couldn't, if we wanted, escape from the never-ending advertising blitz that is part and parcel of our modern world!

Most ads, however, at least, to me, I feel are either uninteresting, down right boring, maddening, or they are informative, entertaining and, I save the best for last..... down right funny!

It is these ads, the funny ones, that most people enjoy and remember, like the case of the rich, middle-age man in the gentleman's club featured in the above picture. This entertaining ad, from Germany, is the type of ad that makes me say, "Now thats funny!"

Let me try and paraphrase the 'action' for you as the man adjusts his tie in the mirror. As he does, the cell phone on the counter rings, so picture this:

Man: "Hello."

Sweet young Woman: "Hello darling! Darling, I just saw the most adorable fur coat today.... its only $1,000; may I get it?

Man: "Well, my darling, if you really must have it, go ahead and buy it."

Woman: "Oh thanks darling, and while I'm here, I dropped into the Mercedes dealership today and fell in love with their newest model. May I, darling, buy it?

Man: "How much is it sweetheart?"

Woman: "Only $120,000!"

Man: "Then by all means my love, but for that price just make sure you get all the options, ok?"

Woman: "Oh darling, thanks; I love you so much! Oh, by the way, that house we wanted is back on the market again. Can I get it? Its going for one million, five?"

Man: "Certainly darling, if you really want it, then, by all means, buy it before someone else snaps it up."

Woman: "Oh thanks darling, I love you so much! Bye."

Man: "I love you too baby, bye."

The Man then turns to the other gentlemen, in the club, and while holding the cell phone up, asks, "Does anybody know who left this cell phone on the counter?"

Ah, now thats what I call funny and the kind of ad that most people, myself included, can't get enough of. These are the type of ads that, in many cases, are actually more enjoyable than the regular programs that they help to sponsor on television in the first place.

The above ad, for Deutsche Postbank, is not only funny, but happily, if your into such advertising, then your in luck! Thats because the above ad is only one small example of a funny, funny ad that is listed in the funny, funny new website, veryfunnyads.com.

This entertaining site is chocked full of really funny ads and features not only the best of American, Canadian and British advertising, but also the best and funniest ads from the world over. From North and South America, Africa, Asia and European advertising agencies, you can now view these delightful ads any time of the day, from the comfort of your own computer screen.

So, what are you waiting for? I know that you probably love these ads as much as I do, so head on over to: http://www.veryfunnyads.com today and laugh your head and belly off! I know I did.

And thats my 2 cents 4 this Monday, October the first, 2007.